Amy Guadagnoli

Artist Statement

My experience creating hand-pulled woodblock prints spans over twenty years—a lot of time for the quiet meditation of carving and the splinters that go with it. I print without machinery, using palm gouges to carve and a simple wooden spoon as my press. I only make one print because in our times of material and media abundance only one is necessary. I work reductively, carving and printing in stages so that each block is reduced or destroyed as the image is produced and created. Each image remains singular, thus sacred, reflecting one experience in time.

The many contrasts inherent in these woodblock prints keep me engaged

â€”the fast gestural line that is carved slowly, a random splash that takes hours to create, the raised rough wood becoming a dark smooth inked line, the obsessive pattern throughout providing both unity and noise.

Through my imagery I seek to obfuscate, deconstruct, reassemble and transform my everyday relationships with the shapes and patterns of the world. I seek images which deliberately set on edge the associations we bring to forms as our perceptual associations drive our entire way of thinking. I am not a symbolist nor a pure abstractionist: I use forms which might mean many things, have several names, or be both whimsical and terribly dark at the same time. The images serve as a metaphor between the visual impression of something and the conjuring of its name. Each image is an invitation to explore our ever-changing stream of perceptions and from that experience gain a type of wisdom for which there are no words.

Mercywoodblock print

Vernal Poolswoodblock print

Sirenswoodblock print

Uncharted1/1 woodblock print

HeronFire1/1 woodblock print

Phosphor and the Gathering StormWoodblock monoprint

Sailing the High PlainWoodblock monoprint

Serving the Hungry Ghostwoodblock monoprint

King of Ice Fields1/1 woodblock print

Healer1/1 woodblock print

Chute1/1 woodblock print

Georgia's House1/1 woodblock print

Mineral1/1 woodblock print

Undercurrent1/1 woodblock print

Benedictionwoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Empyreanwoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Incantationwoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Kite for Mayawoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Purse full of Pills and Thoughts for Tomorrowwoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Under the Styx: Tarred Lungs in Stasis with Wormwoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Crossing1/1 woodblock print

Bloodfeather1/1 woodblock print

Shield1/1 woodblock print

Force1/1 woodblock print

Lethe1/1 woodblock print

Passage1/1 woodblock print

Quark Butterfly: The Source of Chaos1/1 woodblock print

Phoenix1/1 woodblock print

Rake, Comb, and Eye: The Pleasures of the Pursewoodblock monoprint with dry pigment

Role Trap: Half an Apron and Wasted Eggswoodblock monoprint with dry pigment